April 29, 2007: Urban Burger

January 2016: We're doing a bit of a blog clean-up and it seems as though Urban Burger closed down a while ago.

After watching the likes of John Lethlean scoff down mushroomy macro dumplings and Elvis Presley sandwiches, Michael and I were ready for a rock'n'roll dinner of our own. We didn't have to wander too far along Swan St for Urban Burger to present itself as a fast, affordable and appetising option. This is Maccas for yuppies in the vein of Grill'd and Burger Republic, and boasts the 2006 Leader Business Award for best takeaway restaurant in Melbourne. Meat-lovers have 10 beef and 8 chicken burgers to choose from, while vegos have four appetising options of their own: one with tofu, another featuring portabello mushroom, a vegan one with beans and lentils, and finally one with grilled eggplant.

These $9 burgers are enormous, on the same scale as those at Burger Republic. The menu describes the buns as a "sour dough wholemeal blend", but they tasted like the more typical doughy white flour roll to me. Their size makes them unwieldy and I had a serious filling escape and juice running down my hands, but the vibrant combination of ingredients was easily worth that discomfort: my Port Melbourne burger boasted a marinated portabello mushroom, roasted red capsicum, rocket, red onion, pesto and aioli. Michael was similarly pleased with his Vegan Vibe: a patty of red kidney beans, lentils, coriander and chilli teamed with avocado, salad, relish and the optional non-vegan aioli. Naturally there was also a shared serve of chips, with more aioli. They had a satisfying crunch but were a bit dry, falling well behind my Grill'd sample and, from memory, probably not up to the Burger Republic ones either.

Urban Burger absolutely hit the spot, and I'd happily revisit them for some more fancy fast food. However it falls a bit short of the where's the beef? award for best Melbourne takeaway.

Address: 174 Swan St, Richmond
Ph: 9429 9822
Unlicensed
Price: vege burgers $8.80, chips $3
Website: www.urbanburger.com.au

April 29, 2007: The Good Shepherd's Circus Pie Classic

I love rock and roll and I love food. If only there was some way to combine the two. Oh wait, there is! Sunday evening's entertainment, billed as "A Rock 'n' Roll Cook Off for Charity", was a kind of Iron Chef for Melbourne's indie rock elite. Devised as a fund raiser for Good Shepherd Youth and Family Service, the event pulled together Melbourne musicians, media personalities and food journalists for a surreal evening of fun at The Corner Hotel.

The basic structure of the evening involved four teams of five 'celebrities' each, two savoury cook-offs and a dessert challenge between two heat winners to find out whose cuisine reigned supreme. But the basic structure doesn't do justice to the chaotic, noisy and hilarious evening.

We arrived to a moderately busy band room, with the two stages set up: a small one scattered with amps, mics and drum kits and a big one with a makeshift kitchen, overhead mirrors to give the crowd a good view of the action and a clever apron collage for wallpaper.

After a food-themed D.J. set (my personal highlight: Cherry Pie by Warrant), Helen Razer (our cough-medicine addled host for the evening) took control, introducing her fellow commentators: Clem Bastow (Inpress, The Age etc) and Matt Preston (Epicure, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival). The rules were explained: each heat would pit two teams against each other for half an hour's fiercely competitive cooking producing at least three courses for judging. All of which had to contain... the secret ingredient.

To get the first heat underway, Helen introduced the first two teams, pitting a vegan-friendly Team 1 (Lindsay 'The Doctor' MacDougall and Macromantics plus three non-vegans) against Team 2, ably led by Lisa Miller with support from members of Mach Pelican, Dallas Crane and The Meanies. After a moment of well-orchestrated suspense, the secret ingredient for battle #1 was revealed: mushrooms!

As the cooking got underway, Little Red burst into some sort of amalgam of The Strokes and The Jackson Five. Our attention was divided between the band and the kitchen, but the mention of dumplings from Team 1 caught it and had me cheering on Macromantics and the gang. The alarm went off and, after some frantic plating, the dishes were ready to be served up to the judges: John Lethlean from The Age, Cath Claringbold from Mecca Bah and Andrew McConnell from Three One Two).

I imagine it's some time since these three gourmets ate food prepared in such a haphazard manner, but they gamely tucked into their feasts. From Team 1: shitake sweet soy stir-fry, Macro-dumpings and chocolate shitake surprise, while from Team 2: a suite of dishes dubbed 'Blitzkrieg Wok' including a mushroom penne and a couple of other dishes lost to the mists of time. According to the judges, team 1 produced both the best dish (Macro-dumplings) and most inedible effort (choc-shitake surprise). Unfortunately for them, the 'surprise' was enough to cost them the match, with the judges unanimously pronouncing Lisa Miller's Team 2 the winners of heat 1.

A brief pause for to let everyone get their breath back (and to allow the kitchen-roadies some cleaning time) followed, with Joelistics from TZU providing the music. Heat 2 followed, and out came the big guns of rock 'n' roll cooking: Team 3 was led by Dan Kelly, whose pre-rock career-path included a stint cooking at Claypots, while Team 4 boasted Rebecca Barnard - formerly of Rebecca's Empire and a cooking spot on JJJ. The secret ingredient for heat #2: the less veg-friendly chicken.


This time when the cooking started we moved across to the rock stage to experience SixFtHick - terrifying Brisbane rockers who have no respect for the comfortable line between the audience and the performers. Fronted by brothers Ben and Geoff Corbett, the show was chock full of insanity: prowling, screaming and kicking their way through short, sharp bursts of rock. As the clock ran down on heat #2, the 'Hick wound things up with a Queensland cocktail: a stubby tipped into a cowboy boot, shaken and poured down audience members' throats from on high.

I'm not sure how people cope with a full SixFtHick show - after thirty minutes I was ready to get away from the frightening world of rock and back to the gentle art of cookery. The judges, starting to show some alcohol-influenced wear and tear (I don't think food critics and chefs usually have access to a rider), dived into their second round of rock 'n' roll dishes. Team 4 were up first, with Rebecca taking charge. They came up with some sort of gyoza, a chicken-based pizza and something known as Spazzy-surprise (named after team member Ally Spazzy).

Team 3 produced four courses: Ming Dynasty chicken, Marvin the chicken sandwich, chicken with Dan Kelly Sauce and, in a decision that cost them the heat, Bog Log III's boobscotch whiskey chicken with a human breast-milk sauce. The judges were a little disappointed by Dan Kelly's effort given his pedigree, but the breast-milk flavoured chicken was the real problem for team 3 - with all of the judges disgusted both by the concept and by the taste. Despite Bob Log's disappointing performance in the kitchen, he got my vote for wittiest apron, proudly wearing the slogan, "Got more time for misbehavin', since I started microwavin'".

So Rebecca Barnard's Team 4 advanced to the dessert-themed final against Lisa Miller's Team 2. The final was a fifteen minute affair, with each team producing sweet treats based on the secret ingredient, bizarrely presented by a Devo-inspired helper, BANANAS!

Despite my anti-banana agenda, the dessert round was the highlight in terms of sheer cooking action: Andy and Scott from The Living End came up with chocolate bumholes: cored banana slices filled with a Mars bar mush.

In addition, Team 4 came up with two more dishes: maple leaf rag (bananas caremalised in maple syrup) and Elvis Presley's favourite, fried banana and peanut butter sandwiches. In comparision, Team 2 expended all their energy on one dish: banana filled crepes. While all this was going on, The Wayfaring Strangers were dancing around the music stage wearing little more than aprons and strategically places tongs. The judges traipsed out for the final time and hoed into the various dessert plates. Team 2 looked the favourites just through sheer number of dishes and, when the final scores were announced they were victorious, taking home the inaugural Golden Wok (see above).

This long and rambling post has barely begun to cover just how action-packed the whole evening was - the most fun I've had in ages. The whole idea is quintessentially Melbourne: rock 'n' roll and food mushed together into a chaotic mess where suddenly it makes perfect sense for John Lethlean and SixFtHick to be sharing a bill. And, of course, the whole thing was for a good cause - everyone involved donated their time and a good chunk of the money raised will end up helping young disadvantaged Melbourne-ites. Foodie entertainment can't get much better than that.

April 28, 2007: Pumpkin and spelt muffins

Probably the biggest and baddest eating temptation in my routine is mid-afternoon at work. The pace slows down and as the hours plod on, I start thinking about the fat-laden snacks at the FoodWorks no more than fifty paces from my desk. While there is certainly a psychological element to my cravings, I am often genuinely hungry by 4:00 and I need to eat to maintain those last threads of concentration. Thus, I'm often on the lookout for recipes and snacks that I can prepare and pack from home that'll minimise the damage done. Muffins have frequently popped up as a possible solution but they're usually very cakey and sweet, not much better than the chocolate bar I'm most tempted by! Trust the super-natural Heidi from 101 Cookbooks to present me with an alternative, with a recipe taken from Homegrown Pure and Simple by Michel Nischan.

The photograph of Heidi's batch had the austere and no-frills look I sought to emulate, hinting at lots of fibre and little sugar. The inclusion of pureed pumpkin gave me hope that there would still be some smooth sweetness to enjoy. My batch, by contrast, turned out to be sticky and spongy little critters, not at all dry or humourless. They're pretty tasty, but I probably won't reproduce them in their original form because they take a lot of time and a lot of dishes! If you bother to read the recipe properly before beginning (I didn't) you'll realise why: not only do you have to roast the pumpkin, but you have to reduce a litre of apple juice to a syrup of only a quarter of a cup. That took me about an hour and a half. It's actually quite a revelation to taste and play with this syrup and if you're curious, don't let me dissuade you from attempting it! But for a weekday muffin an equal quantity of honey, golden syrup or maple syrup will surely do the job. The other nuisance step is the separation of eggs, and the gentle folding in of the fluffy whites. To be honest, this afternoon grazer couldn't really detect the peppercorns, cinnamon or coriander seeds in the final product. My future adaption of this recipe would probably use maple syrup, some ground cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg.

Pumpkin and spelt muffins
(Heidi made 12 muffins, I got 19 small cupcakes out of this quantity)

10 black peppercorns (Heidi said 8, but 10 popped into my hand and I wasn't going to send the last two back)
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
4 cups apple juice
~500g pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed and chopped into cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup raw sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup apple puree
1/4 cup sunflower oil
4 egg whites
2 cups spelt flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Put the peppercorns, cinnamon sticks and coriander seeds in a saucepan over medium to high heat for a few minutes, tossing until fragrant. Take them off the heat for half a minute, then pour in the apple juice. Return it to the heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced to a 1/4 cup of syrup. (This took me about 1 1/2 hours.)

While the juice is simmering, spread the pumpkin cubes in a baking tray and sprinkle with the first teaspoon of salt. Bake until tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

When the juice is reduced, push it through a fine seive and discard the spices. Puree the cooked pumpkin and the reduced juice in a food processor.

In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar and egg yolks together for a few minutes, until light and fluffy. Stir in the apple puree, oil and pumpkin puree until just combined.

Make sure your beaters are clean and dry, then beat the egg whites in yet another bowl until foamy but not quite at the soft peak stage.

Got any bowls left? You need one more, in which to combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb soda and second teaspoon of salt. Gradually add it to the cake batter stir, again until only just mixed. Gently fold in the egg whites.

Lightly grease a muffin tray or line it with patty cases. Spoon the batter into the cups until 3/4 full. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.

April 28, 2007: Turkish Delight

The hectic excitement of Kingaroy had left us feeling like a pretty lazy weekend, which meant a quiet dinner at home on Saturday evening. Cindy's enthusiastic consumption of thousands of food blogs means we always have a backlog of worthy recipes to sample. This weekend's treat: Turkish food from Ceviz at Only Turkish Food. I was feeling ready for a crazy kitchenathon, so I decided to attempt two courses: Lemon Zucchini in Olive Oil and Turkish Lentil Balls (see links for the full recipes).

The whole process was quite time consuming, particularly because I'm not big on multi-tasking. I'm sure I could have set the vegies up to cook and then made the lentil balls while they were simmering away, but that's not how I do things. I start at the start and work all the way through to the end. So by the time I'd cooked the lentils and the onions, stirred through the bulghur, tomato paste and spices, a good half hour had passed and I hadn't even started on the zuchs. I mucked up the recipe for the vegies slightly by halving the entire recipe except for the zucchini, which probably threw the balance out slightly. Still, after another half an hour or so of vegie cooking, it was all ready to go. Cindy chipped in by lightly toasting some Turkish bread and the meal was complete.

The lentil balls were quite tasty, but I think I may have enjoyed them a little more if we'd eaten them fresh from the stove - or possibly given them a quick turn in the fry pan before serving them up. Still, they were remarkably easy patties to make and, with a little tweaking of the spices (I'd add in something with a bit more heat - chilli or cayenne), these could come in handy as part of a Turkish feast. The vegies were also a success - the oil and lemon juice combined well and the thoroughly cooked vegetables were soft and flavoursome. With the bread on hand to mop up the oily run-off and the lentil patties to provide some bulk, I was pretty happy with this Turkish experiment.

5 things about (him and) me

Paul recently tagged us for a "5 Things About Me" meme. He cheekily handed the task of selecting five things about him over to his partner, and Mike provided a most pithy profile of the gourmand. We've decided to appropriate this idea and write 5 things about each other.

Here are five things you might not already know about Michael:

1. Michael's CV boasts 3 degrees: in maths, IT and criminology.

2. The first meal that he cooked for me was a huge wok-full of noodles, chicken, veges, peanut butter, and a sachet of curry paste. This was his signature dish and he was secretly disappointed at the lukewarm response it received from me. I was just trying to keep my watering eyes in check - I was no match for the chilli oneupmanship that goes on in a sharehouse of 20-something males. Still, a man who cooks at all is pretty attractive, right? He's since refined his style but still provides most of the enthusiasm (and labour) for the hearty and/or spicy meals on our table: one-pot wonders, curries, Mexican, and the like.

3. Much to my bewilderment, Michael's a sport lover. He thoroughly enjoys a social game of soccer or netball, and has been known to rise early (3am early) to watch a soccer or cricket game in another time zone.

4. Michael's most hated foods are fresh tomatoes and bananas. His tomato tolerance has gradually developed to sauces, sun-dried and the occasional sandwich but there's been no shift on the banana front. Consequently they rarely enter our house at all.

5. Contrary to popular assumption, Michael decided to go vegetarian before I did. (Seems like it's the kind of bleeding-heart thing girls do, and then bully their boyfs into...?) He challenged himself to try it for 5 weeks and then didn't stop. I followed his lead about a month later.

So, to return the favour: five things you don't know about Cindy:

1. Cindy has a PhD. Unfortunately, she makes scant use of her impressive title, leaving it to me to book flights and things for Dr Cindy.

2. Cindy is a weird eater. There are all kinds of rules by which her eating is governed: fizzy drinks only go with fatty foods, pasta and salad must travel to work in separate lunch boxes, coffee can only be consumed with chocolate. And so on. Most weird of all though, is her obsession with eating neatly. On one of our earliest outings together, I sat and watched Cindy painstakingly pick at a slice of cheesecake so that it always looked like it had just been served up. There was nary a bump or chunk missing anywhere, strictly straight lines. After watching this for some time (another thing: Cindy eats more slowly than anyone I've ever known), I took my fork and mashed her cake up a bit. Not a wise move. I honestly think she didn't enjoy the rest of the cake at all. Weird.

3. Cindy's vegetarianism (while copied off me) brought her into line with the way most people saw her anyway. I've lost count of the number of people who've met Cindy and somehow decided that she was vego. It used to happen with startling regularity. At least now their assumptions don't make an ass out of anyone.

4. Contrary to our inner-city, latte-sipping lifestyles, Cindy doesn't like olives. I've been working on her for years, but even a tapenade is enough to turn her off. Other food phobias: uncooked onion and uncooked mushrooms (despite an almost pathological love of cooked mushrooms).

5. Cindy is a talented (if currently inactive) painter - there are at least three of her pictures adorning the walls of our house. She's tried to paint pictures of me twice, but I can't sit still for long enough without falling asleep, so they're both of me in the land of nod (I wonder if it just means she doesn't know how to paint eyes? Hmmm.)

We won't tag anyone else in particular, but please join in if you feel so inclined and give us a link to your post. I'd love to know at least 5 more things about you!